George Orwell’s Southwold

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How the East Anglian sea-side town of

Southwold became so significant to the Blair family

An account in three parts

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‘Montague House was purchased for a few hundred pounds by Richard and Ida Blair (Eric’s parents; she being Ida Limouzin before her marriage) in 1932 using a legacy from Ida’s Limouzin family. The couple had already lived for over ten years in the town and were established pillars of the community; ‘

Orwell’s Southwold (I)

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‘… it was disappointing for Eric’s father Richard to learn that his son’s writing to date had earned him a mere £20, whereas the profits from his sister Avril’s Copper Kettle Tea Room next door had enabled her to buy a car! ‘

Orwell’s Southwold (II)

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‘By the time he moved from Southwold to London in October 1934, not only had he published Down and Out in Paris and London, but he had also published his first novel Burmese Days in New York and completed his second, A Clergyman’s Daughter. ‘

Orwell’s Southwold (III)

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